Well, between later "pre-Snake-Men"
assortments turning up at K*B Toys, and a couple of on-line auctions
with reasonable "Buy it Now" prices, I've managed to catch
up a fair bit on some of the recent Masters releases. I have four to
review here, so let's get to them:

SKY STRIKE STRATOS: The biggest
complaint about the first STRATOS figure
released in the current Masters line was that the arm articulation was
such that
it could only move its arms out to the side -- and even that didn't
allow
the
figure to look like it was "flapping its wings" very effectively.
The
winged
hairy birdman with the Amish-style beard and the
Sean-Connery-with-a-frog-in-his-throat voice was just too hindered in
the
arm movement to work all that well.

So when Mattel made a new
Stratos, they fixed this problem, and were kind
enough to not radically change the color scheme of the figure all that
extensively. SKY STRIKE STRATOS has much better arm articulation, more
in
line with the
reast of the Masters figures. The red on his usual outfit has been
darkened
somewhat for this version, but still looks red. Overall, from an
articulation
standpoint, it's a vast improvement.

Unfortunately, he's now got
this huge missile firing backpack that can't
be
removed from the figure. Someone else in the He-Man.Org newsgroup tried
it, and
reported that it left two gaping hole-slots in the back of the figure.
It
doesn't help that there are two cables with control levers which must
be
held in
Stratos' hands. There's no place to hook them on the backpack. In
fairness,
the detail level even on these small lever controls is excellent.

So what we've got at this
point is two Stratos figures, the original and the Sky Strike version,
both of which have their own problems. What's needed is a Stratos with
good arm movement, and without a huge honking backpack. However, if
I had to recommend one over the other, I'd be inclined to give the nod
to this new Sky Strike Stratos. The arm articulation is what it should
be, and that's a major factor in my opinion. You should be able to find
him at K*B Toys, which has recently come into a generous supply of Masters
figures.

SHIELD STRIKE HE-MAN: Normally
I don't go in for slight reworkings of
figures. I don't need twenty-five Luke Skywalkers. I don't need two
hundred different
Batman figures, or thirty of Spider-Man, or a dozen different versions
of
He-Man. That having been said, I was sufficiently impressed with this
particular
version of He-Man to purchase him when he turned up at K*B Toys.

Now, I've always liked the
Masters of the Universe concept. It's a superb
blend of super-hero, sword-and-sorcery, and science-fiction. There's
obviosuly a
profound diversity of sentient life on Eternia, much of it as fascinating
as
any sci-fi alien life. There are prominent, wild-looking character with
distinctly superhuman abilities. It really is an excellent adventure
concept.

But with all of that, the
main hero still runs around in a fur loincloth
like
some blonde musclebound version of "Me, Tarzan". No wonder
Skeletor mocks
him.

Now, I realize that this
is regarded today as the standard version of
He-Man,
and I accept that. And all of the He-Man variants that have come along
in
the
current Masters line have hardly been improvements. Mostly just slight
changes in his limited armor. Until this one.

Shield Strike He-Man is a
version that you can take a little more
seriously.
The figure certainly appears better dressed. His legs and arms have
been
painted in a metallic black, like he's wearing some sort of advanced
armor. This
metallic black can also be seen on his torso. He's got some serious
armor
on his
chest and belt. And he's carrying a large shield that actually fires
a
small
missile.

About the only thing I don't
like about the figure is the sword. It bears
no
resemblance to the Sword of Greyskull that allows Prince Adam to become
He-Man
in the first place. It's a nasty looking piece of hardware, I'll give
it
that, but it doesn't look quite right.

Still, this is a He-Man that
has clearly come to take names and kick Skeletor and his cronies all
over Snake Mountain. If I were Skeletor and I saw this coming, I wouldn't
be inclined to laugh. I don't expect this version will ever replace
the traditional He-Man, and perhaps it shouldn't. And there's way too
many He-Man (and Skeletor) variants out there, and they can certainly
he held substantially responsible for the failure of the line in the
United States. But this one -- I like.

BATTLE FIST: Known to anyone
with a knowledge of the history of the line
as
FISTO, this is one of those characters I would've bet couldn't be
successfully
transformed into the more serious-looking modern Masters line. The
original
Fisto was a slightly paunchy bearded geek in a purple and silver striped
shirt
with a big metal fist in place of his right hand. How are you going
to
translate that over successfully?

I guess if you can do a serious
Buzz-Off, you can do anybody -- although
I
still hope the line survives long enough to see them tackle Snout Spout
and get
away with it.

I snagged this figure off
of eBay, and am delighted that I did. I was
prepared to be underwhelmed. I wasn't. The "striped shirt"
of the
original is now
obviously armor plating, the giant fist is robotic in nature and very
well
detailed, and the former grinning Fisto has a look on his face this
time
around like
he's just asking someone to pick a fight with him and his
mountain-smashing
friend.

The level of detail on Battle
Fist's headband and belt, in fact,
throughout
his entire outfit, is nothing short of incredible. The intricacy and
precision
is remarkable.

The character has even been
given greater personality and background in
the
animated series, where he is called Fisto. The former bit player in
the
1980's
has been elevated to the status of Man-At-Arms' estranged brother, who
finally
rejoins the fold in the battle against the Snake Men. Clearly the
producers
of the show care as much about their product as those who designed the
toys.

If you've seen the Battle
Fist/Fisto auctions on eBay, and are thinking, "That was a pretty
lame character," think again. This is one very cool figure, and
I highly recommend him.

ZODAK: I've always liked
Zodak. The original version was the very first
Masters figure I ever purchased, back in the 80's, and back then, I
didn't pay
quite as much attention to the line, being more into G.I.Joe. Masters
is
certainly worth paying attention to this time and Zodak is back.

Zodak is described as a "Cosmic
Enforcer". Although technically one of
the
good guys, he's tended to be neutral as much as anything, and certainly
isn't a
team player. In the current animated series, he flattened most of the
Masters
single-handedly and got into a major knock-down, drag-out with He-Man
because
Zodak wanted to take on the Snake-Men by himself to avenge the death
of
his
brother at their hands.

The figure is very impressive,
although there have been some distinct
changes
from the original apart from just the basic visual upgrade that all
modern
Masters figures have enjoyed. For one thing, Zodak is a black man this
time
around. And he has what can only be described as warpaint on his body.
Also, his
helmet is removable. That wasn't the case last time.

None of this bothers me.
It still looks like Zodak. The helmet and
chestplate
are unmistakable. His gloves and boots look much better than they did
back in
the 80's, where parts usage between figures was common. And he comes
with
a
very cool and superbly detailed weapon.

About the only thing I have
a slight problem with is that the figure is a
little more pre-posed than some in the line, and a little more than
I'm
generally
comfortable with. However, it doesn't hinder his articulation, and he
still
looks cool, so I can let it slide. I guess since this is the modern
version of
the very first Masters figure I had, I was hoping for something a little
more
straightforward.

I still certainly recommend
him, though, if you can find him at a good
price
on on-line or wherever else he might turn up.

One other bit of related
news. Masters of the Universe statues and busts
have
become increasingly popular. I am not into statues and busts. However,
there
is a certain staggering, and slightly sickening, irony in the fact that
one of
the major Masters statues planned for this year by licensee NECA is
of
the
character CLAWFUL, an individual who has yet to be made as an action
figure,
even though his character has turned up in both the animated series
and
comic
book.

I hope they get around to
an action figure. For one thing, the statues
and
busts have followed the figure designs very closely, which means that
a
CLAWFUL
figure could look seriously cool if this statue is any indication.

As for the toy line, the
present word is that while Masters may have
"failed"
in the United States, it remains enormously popular internationally,
especially in Europe, and is likely to continue over there, with the
distinct
possibility of new figures. I hope this is the case. With the advent
of
cyberspace and
online stores, those toys, ultimately, would be available to American
collectors. This would also not be the first time a Mattel action figure
line has
taken this route. In the 1970's and 80's, a popular toy line called
BIG
JIM had a
very healthy run throughout Europe in several conceptual formats well
after
the line had vanished from American shelves.

And clearly Mattel knows
that there's still a market for the line.
Consider
the figure that they plan to offer at this year's San Diego ComiCon
and
Wizard
World Chigaco Convention -- SHE-RA!